And I'm back again with another chapter! Sorry for the long wait. I had a writer's block and I really don't know what to write. Thanks for all the reviews and for adding this story to your favorites! I appreciate it so much! I feel so grateful to all my readers. I'm starting to feel a little lazy in writing this story. I hope I can finish it beautifully. haha. I'm still quite busy nowadays but I'll try to update soon. Thanks everyone!

Disclaimer: Not mine.

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Section 12: Guilt

Hikari was making her way towards school. She observed her surroundings and took in all the beauty that was uncovered before her eyes.

'Well, this looks like a fine day. No worries, Hikari. It'll be okay. Everything will turn out to be as normal as before.' Hikari thought to herself.

When she was approaching the gate, she saw Akira and waved good morning to her.

"Akira, ohayo!" Hikari smiled, hugging Akira.

"Ohayo, Hikari-chan, it seems like you're in a good mood today" Akira smiled at her.

"Yup. I'm starting my day as normal as possible." Hikari laughed but Akira frowned.

"As normal as possible? What do you mean?" Akira asked.

"Huh? Oh, nothing. Just, you know, I want to have fun." Hikari smiled nervously.

They started to walk towards the greenhouse but Akira was still bothered about Hikari's behavior. She was walking behind Hikari while observing Hikari's actions. She noticed that Hikari was smiling but her eyes were somewhat cold. She decided to confront her about this.

"Hikari-chan, are you okay?" Akira asked.

They entered greenhouse and was surprised to see that they were the first person to arrive.

"What? I'm totally fine." Hikari said.

"No you're not. You're smiling but your eyes doesn't have the same energy as your smile." Akira said.

"I wonder where Ryuu and the others are. I'm the one who's usually late." Hikari said, avoiding Akira's questions.

"Hikari, don't change the topic. C'mon, you can tell me anything." Akira said. Hikari looked at her and sighed.

"Ok." Hikari said.

She sat on one of the chairs and signalled Akira to sit down beside her. When both of them were seated, Hikari sighed again. Akira frowned.

"Please tell me that this isn't about Kei." Akira said, clearly expecting that Kei was the cause of Hikari's uneasiness.

"Well, what if I tell you that it's about him? What are you going to do?" Hikari asked. Akira's eyes immediately burst into flames.

"I'll definitely kill him." Akira said.

"Please, don't." Hikari said with a sad tone. Akira noticed that Hikari was really serious about the topic so she decided to drop her anger.

"What happened?" Akira asked, now ready to hear every inch of Hikari's story.

Hikari started to narrate to Akira what happened inside the plane. She narrated it with great accuracy that you wouldn't think Hikari was the one talking. Akira listened to every bit of her story.

"He did that?!"

"But Akira, he already said sorry."

"So, do you plan on accepting his apology?"

"You know, I realized one thing, there's something wrong with the word sorry."

"There is? What?"

"It gives people the wrong idea that any mistake can be solved by a single word." Hikari explained.

Akira felt the strong emotion in Hikari's words. Hikari sighed and when she turned around, she was surprised to see the others listening intently to what she said. Her gaze fell upon Kei.

'He heard me and he doesn't look alright.' Hikari thought.

Kei stared at Hikari with sadness in his eyes. He slowly made his way out of the greenhouse. Hikari saw this and she stood up.

"Takishima."

Kei stopped on his tracks. Everyone was waiting for something to happen. It seems like the world stopped and focused on Kei and Hikari. The atmosphere around them became tense. Hikari took a deep breath and asked.

"Are…are you..okay?"

Kei smiled. He turned around and looked at Hikari.

"I'm okay. Thanks for the concern. Don't worry, I'll be okay after a few days but I guess there will be changes between us from now on." Kei said.

He walked out of the greenhouse and headed towards a tree to rest. After Kei left, Tadashi heaved a loud sigh.

"WOOOO, the tension is killing me!" Tadashi said.

"Killing you?! I think I'm going to faint." Megumi wrote.

"Uhm, can I ask one thing, what's gotten into Kei? He looks like he hasn't gotten enough sleep." Jun asked.

"Yea, I think he didn't sleep at all. We were drinking wine last night and he was really bothered, he actually finished 5 bottles by himself! We left him though, 'coz Tadashi and I were really sleepy." Ryuu said.

"He drank 5 bottles of wine?" Hikari asked.

"Yup."

" I see. I'm going out for a while, ok?"

"Sure thing."

Hikari sighed. She stood up and left the greenhouse. She took a walk at the school grounds. She thought of what the others had said.

'He didn't sleep last night? He drank 5 bottles of wine?! That's too much!' Hikari thought.

~Kei's walk~

He was bothered, upset, and hurt. Hikari's words echoed in his ears.

'It gives people the idea that any mistake could be solved by a single word.' Kei thought.

"If I can't even say sorry, then what should I do?" Kei said to himself. He sighed.

He walked towards the school park. He looked around and saw that nobody was there. He sat on one of the benches and inhaled the fresh air around him. It wasn't long before he heard a twig broke. He looked around and saw a petite girl trying to escape.

~Hikari's walk~

She was walking around the school grounds and she felt like her feet was controlling her whole body. Her feet took her to the place where she found Tadashi comforting Akira about her problem with the girl named *Yui. She smiled at the nice thought. She looked around the place and she stopped when she saw Kei sitting at one of the benches there. She was backing away quietly but she stepped on a twig. She was going to run but, too late, Kei already noticed her presence.

"What are you doing and why are you running away?" Kei asked.

Hikari stood straight. She turned around and laughed nervously. Kei raised an eyebrow at her.

"Uhm, I'm not...I'm not run..away." Hikari said, her grammar being affected by her nervousness. Kei smiled motioned Hikari to sit beside him. After a few seconds of thinking, she obeyed Kei and sat beside him. She immediately became stiff when she sat beside Kei.

'Great. Another awkward moment.' Hikari thought.

Deafening silence covered the place. Hikari's heartbeat echoed to her ears. She can hear Kei breathing. It wasn't until a few minutes when Hikari decided to speak.

"If..if you don't have something to say..I..I'm going now." Hikari said, she stood up but a hand grabbed her wrist and made her stay.

"Hikari. Please. Stay."

Those three words made her sit again and made her heartbeat faster.

'I think he can hear my heartbeat now. Quiet down you crazy, crazy heart.' Hikari thought as she held her chest and tried to breathe slowly.

Kei smiled when he felt Hikari sitting down beside him again. He decided to speak up.

"I know, you don't want to hear this word anymore but, I'm sorry. I really am."

"I know you are."

"You do?"

"Yes. But, you see, I can't talk about these things right now."

Kei was silent for a while. He was thinking of the words that his mother used to say to him. He smiled when he remembered it.

"Hikari, I remembered something, something that my mom used to say to me before." Kei started.

"What is it?" Hikari asked.

"She said that there are two reasons why we can't talk about something. First, if it means nothing to us and second, if it means everything to us." Kei said.

"Ahh..really?" Hikari said, not quite understanding the phrase.

Kei waited until she got the meaning of the phrase but after a few minutes of waiting, he gave up.

'I thought she got it already. She's still the same Hikari I know.' Kei thought with a smile.

Hikari saw him smiling and she sighed. She held Kei's face in her hands and smiled at him that made Kei blush.

"What...what is it?" Kei asked. Hikari smiled.

"Always smile, ok? It makes me feel relieved." Hikari said.

"Relieved? Why?"

"Because, I feel that I'm the reason why you're like that and I blame myself for all this." Hikari said.

"Don't think about those things ok? It's not your fault." Kei said.

"I don't know. I just feel, really, really guilty." Hikari replied.

"Well, just forget about it okay?" Kei said

He smiled again and noticed that Hikari's face brightened up once he did so. He, then brought the first topic back.

"Hikari, about the phrase that I said earlier. You still remember right?" Kei asked, just to make sure.

"Yeah, I remember. You said that the two reasons why we can't talk about things is if it means nothing or if it means everything, why?" Hikari asked.

"You said a little while ago that you can't talk about the problem involving our relationship right?" Kei said. 'It's not bad to be straightforward at times.' He thought.

"Uhm, Yeah." Hikari said.

"So, pick out between the two reasons. It means nothing or it means everything to you?" Kei asked.

Hikari frowned, her eyebrows meeting together as she thought deeply of what Kei just said.

'Hm. This is so tough.' Hikari thought, then she took a glance towards Kei and saw him staring intently at her. She sighed.

"Uhm. That's a really hard question you know." Hikari said honestly.

"Just think of it as an examination question. You can't lose right?" Kei said.

"Well, uhm. I'd be lying if I say that it means nothing but I can't also say that it means everything." Hikari started. Kei nodded at her sentence and smiled.

"Very good answer Hikari-chan." Kei said, patting her head. Hikari smiled at the compliment.

'At least we're back to normal.' Kei thought.

Hikari smiled. She looked up at Kei and saw him yawning. She suddenly remembered something. Something Ryuu said a little while back.

'He didn't sleep all night. He finished 5 bottles of wine by himself.' she thought.

Hikari slapped Kei's arm lightly that made Kei look at her, confused.

"What? I just complimented you and you're hitting my arm? You're weird." Kei said.

"I'm weird? No, I'm not. You are." Hikari said.

"Me? Weird? Why do you say so?" Kei asked, totally lost.

"Ryuu said that you didn't sleep at all last night and you also drank 5 bottles of wine. That's not like you."

"Oh that." Kei forced a smile. 'I can't say that it's because of you, you'll just feel bad about it and blame yourself again.' Kei thought.

"Takishima, don't do that again ok? You look horrible this morning." Hikari laughed.

Kei looked at her happy face and was relieved that she was now back to her normal self. Kei suddenly felt sleepy and he closed his eyes and lie on Hikari's lap. Hikari was shocked.

"HEY!" Hikari said. Kei sighed.

"Just for now. I'm really tired and really sleepy." Kei said and he immediately drifted off to sleep. Hikari looked at his sleeping face.

"You look so cute you know that?" Hikari said.

She was not aware that her love for Kei was fully blooming and she was also not aware that her friends was there, watching the whole scene between them. Megumi sighed.

"You know, they are both weird." Megumi wrote.

"Why?" Tadashi asked but it's Akira who replied.

"Because the monster is trying to get Hikari to forgive him and he doesn't realize that he's just wasting his time." Akira said.

"Wasting his time?" Jun asked and it was Megumi who answered.

"Yes. Because even though Hikari is not saying that he loves Kei or that he forgives him, she doesn't realize that she's already acting it." Megumi wrote.

"Really?!" The three boys said in chorus. Akira and Megumi rolled their eyes.

"Boys." The 2 girls said and they walked away.

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*Yui - The girl from the normal school where S.A. went. The one that looks like Akira's childhood friend, Sayo.

Uhm. So how was it? Was it bad? I hope not. haha! I'm still thinking of what I should write next. Any suggestions? ^_^...please leave a comment..! *gets a mug of hot chocolate and think about what to write next*...Ah...still so rainy outside..

September 7, 2009 [Monday; 11:52 a.m.]

Philippines